The Chios Marine Club organised an information and experience sharing meeting on Aspects of New Environmental Regulatory Impacts for Shipping, on 30 November 2022. The meeting was held at the Angelicoussis Group Auditorium, Athens, Greece, and was attended by over 80 members.
The President of Chios Marine Club, Capt Antonis Pitsilos, opened the event and welcomed all participants.
Nikos Kakalis, Chios Marine Club Secretary Special and Lloyd’s Register Global Bulk Carriers Segment Director moderated the event, outlining that “the adoption of new environmental targets and regulations adds another dimension of complexity to the existing high market volatility, the geopolitical situations and the energy crisis”. Kakalis said that “technology and fuels on-board, fleet deployment and allocation, optimal operation, performance monitoring and digitilisation, crew training, are only fraction of the aspects that need to be considered from a different view-point. That is why engagement of wider industry stakeholders is a must to understand the new landscape better and identify possible pathways for navigating through”.
John Cotzias, Director Assets/ SnP & Projects in Xclusiv Shipbrokers mentioned that “the implementation of CII from January 1st 2023 for most ship types with gross tonnage above 5,000 will change the landscape of global shipping, with vessels ranked from A to E per year based on their CO2 emissions”. Cotzias stressed that “from the one side, high-cost solutions for ship-owners to improve their vessels’ rating to the practically possible extent and from the other charterers’ vessel selection considering CII and their possible responsibility on redelivery, are expected to generate turbulence on shipping markets, affecting the balance of ships supply/ demand and impacting freight rates at unknown for the moment degree”.
Theodoros Kourmpelis, Strategic Key Accounts Director in Lloyd’s Register stated that “the timeline for implementation of new environmental regulations at both the international and regional levels looks quite tight from next January 2023 to 2030 in order to meet the decarbonisation targets up to 2050”. Kourmpelis emphasised that “although the potential financial aspects may be significant, silver-bullet solutions do not exist and shipping companies will need to consider proactively what is the optimal mix of technologies and fuels according to their profiles, fleets, and strategy, that meet safety and their techno-economic feasibility targets”.
Bill Stamatopoulos, Global Business Development Director for Bureau Veritas VeriFuel, said “conventional biofuels are compatible with modern marine engines and can be used safely onboard ships; yet questions remain about full supply chain sustainability and the wide-scale availability of 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels given the competition with other sectors”. Biofuels are a flexible solution that can be produced in different locations via different sources. Biomass-for-biofuels is theoretically available everywhere, limiting the amount of transportation required for distribution. They can also be mixed with fossil fuels to reduce emissions without needing full dependency on biofuels. Stamatopoulos emphasized that “biofuels are an immediately actionable turnkey solution offering a range of advantages as a more sustainable fuel source. Biofuels require minimal investment to keep in line with evolving regulations and ensure crew safety and are, therefore, one of the best stepping-stones to decarbonisation”.